I get mine from, ohhh, sooo many places!! (Where do you buy your books?)

Member Name: sugar78

Product:	Where do you buy your books?
Date:	10/07/09 (35 review reads)
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I have been a bookworm from as far back as I can remember. I have a passion for collecting books on a variety of subjects, which can sometimes make my partner roll his eyes and shake his head!!

When I was young, and I went shopping with my mum to the local markets, she used to buy me a 'special' book every month. We used to go to the same market stall and they had a huge array of books for children on offer. As I was so small at the time the choice looked gigantic to me! My mum bought me Enid Blyton books from the stall, one each month. When she bought all those, we then had to go onto The Famous Five and so forth!

Now I buy my books from a variety of places. Since I am a big fan of history I joined a book club about 10 years ago. The club I joined was the Ancient & Medieval Book Club. When I first joined I did have to buy 5 books within the first year, as you do with most book clubs, but after that you can buy as many as you want. Every month they have an Editors Choice book that you can buy or reject. As the ordering is done best through their website, you can reject this choice really easily. If you do join do remember to check regularly on the website, as if you do not reject the Editors Choice book you will be sent it automatically.
Through the book club you don't pay the full rrp for the book. You get a discount of between 10%-20%. When you have been with them for over a year you become a VIP member and you will normally pay half the rrp for most of the books. The books span a range of topics right through history, up to modern day.
This book club is a must for any fans of history out there and I have bought some fantastic books.

I have bought a few books from Ebay. Normally the books that I have purchased from Ebay are antiquarian and printed before 1900. I don't normally pay more that £5, which includes the postage. I have purchased some lovely books from Ebay, which include Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens. I keep my eye out for anything that I think would be interesting.

Charity shops are a great place to find a good read. As the books are so cheap it means it's a bargain for you, your helping a charity and you can always donate the books back if you don't want to keep them! It works all round!

Going to a car boot sale is another place where I buy my books, along with other goodies. I bought Charles Dickens 'Pickwick Papers' published in 1892 from a car boot for 50p! I was about 14 at the time and that book has had pride of place on all the various bookshelves that I have had!

I do buy some paperbacks from Tesco, as they have the buy 2 for £7 offer on. I only buy books from Tesco very rarely, but they do have the latest offerings for sale.

Of course, I still go to my local markets and have a good look through the books that might be on offer there. I have always done that since when my mum used to take me!

I very rarely buy books from WH Smiths, Waterstones etc. When I do buy books from WH Smiths it is usually because someone has bought me a gift voucher and from Waterstones because I can't seem to find the specific book anywhere else that I am looking for.

I have a collection of over 300 books at home, most of which I have acquired from the Ancient & Medieval Book Club, charity shops, car boot sales and markets. My partner made me a bookcase that holds all of them, but I just have to try and not buy as many books now! If I run out of space on the bookcase I don't know where I will put them, and I don't know what my partner will say!!!

Summary: There are lots of places to buy your favourite books, and you don't have to splash out a lot.